


What Else Was There To Do?

by EllanaSan



Series: Have a Drink Sweetheart (Hayffie Prompts/one shots collection) [43]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Book 3: Mockingjay, Effie Trinket is a badass, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, It's the hunger games folks, Serious Injuries, propos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:40:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29104974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllanaSan/pseuds/EllanaSan
Summary: The propos they dragged Peeta and Johanna to were both a blessing and a curse in Effie’s opinion.A blessing because it meant a respite in the incessant questioning.A curse because to ensure the children’s cooperation they had Annie and her kneeling out of sight of the camera, with a gun pressed to the back of their skulls.
Relationships: Haymitch Abernathy/Effie Trinket
Series: Have a Drink Sweetheart (Hayffie Prompts/one shots collection) [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/71774
Comments: 20
Kudos: 58





	What Else Was There To Do?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: could you please write about effies interaction with some other Capitol people in the cells during the war? Maybe ceasar flickerman or somebody like that? Maybe they don’t understand why the guards are being so harsh on Effie and she ends up having to explain that she’s being held there because of haymitch??

The propos they dragged Peeta and Johanna to were both a blessing and a curse in Effie’s opinion.

A blessing because it meant a respite in the incessant questioning.

A curse because to ensure the children’s cooperation they had Annie and her kneeling out of sight of the camera, with a gun pressed to the back of their skulls. It wasn’t just _pointed_ at them, it was _pressed_ against their head. She could feel its barrel digging into her bone, hard enough that it would leave a bruise.

What was another one though? Her face was already black and blue, as was the rest of her body. The tattered white prison uniform, so torn it barely kept her decent, stuck to her back where the blood had dried. And, of course, there was the shoulder they had pulled on too much. Johanna had popped it back in but it was wrong still. It wasn’t working like it should. She was forced to keep her arm folded around her torso to avoid the aching and throbbing becoming mind numbing.

She barely followed what was happening on stage, badly startled when the familiar blast of a horn announced a break. Prep teams rushed to Johanna and Peeta to fix their make-up, Caesar wandered away, looking so ill-at-ease…

She watched him because she had nothing else to do.

She watched him because they used to be friends before she became a skull to press a barrel to.

She watched him because…

There was a table to the side of the room loaded with fruits and cakes and juices and pitchers of clear water…

Her mouth was so dry she could have _killed_ for some water.

Did Caesar caught her staring at the decanter? He looked indecisive for a second and then a sort of hard expression flashed on his face. Their eyes briefly met.

Next thing she knew – and she might have lost some time here and there because her head had been banged one too many times lately – he was marching toward her and Annie with a glass of water in each hand.

“Don’t get close to the prisoners.” one of the Peacekeepers ordered, sounding bored.

“Your prisoners won’t last through this propo shooting if you do not take better care of them.” Caesar retorted, handing out the two glasses.

Annie didn’t pause to think, she grabbed it and downed it before the Peacekeeper behind her could prevent it. Then again, and Effie was thankful for small mercies, they hadn’t really touched Annie.

Effie was too slow for that sort of reflexes, her mind was too muddied.

“You don’t have the authority…” the Peacekeeper argued.

“This is _my_ shooting studio.” Caesar snapped. “I have _all_ authority here and I refuse to deal with fainting prisoners on my set. I am not asking you to release them, I am asking you to ensure the shooting is not disrupted. Take a walk, officer.”

It took her a few seconds to realize the lack of pressure at the back of her skull meant the gun had been removed. It took her much longer to realize the Peacekeepers had obeyed and had moved away. Not that there would be any possibility of escape anyway but, for one second, she entertained it. There were windows in the room. _Huge_ windows. She wasn’t sure how high they were or if there were force fields outside to prevent suicide but…

Caesar was crouching in front of her between one blink and the next, guiding her hand around the glass of water. Her hand was shaking so much when she brought it to her lips that some of it slouched over the rim.

Imagine that… Water in a glass…

Lately it came in buckets, that she liked to imagine had been cleaned from their previous uses, or directly on the floor, in puddles, because she was a District’s slut and District bitches licked water from the floor just like dogs…

The water was tepid and bland but it was better than anything she had tasted in weeks. Her stomach was so empty that it slouched in there and made her uncomfortably nauseous.

“Thank you.” she finally said, once she was done. “You should not have. You will get in trouble.”

“I am _already_ in trouble.” he whispered, glancing at Annie. Annie was lost in her own universe though, like often. Effie envied her. She had a cozy place at the back of her mind where she liked to live too when it became _really_ bad. It was a pretend universe in which Haymitch hadn’t abandoned her and they were still locked in her penthouse’s bedroom like they used to do after they lost the Games. It was harder and harder to get there though. Caesar was still talking and she had to focus to follow the conversation. “Everyone is locked in the Center on their respective floor. Victors have all been executed. They do not trust the escorts and I do not think they trust the Gamemakers either. All Games staff… Because of Heavensbee we are considered compromised.”

“Which is why you should not be seen conspiring with a known terrorist.” she deadpanned.

He waved his hand, looking more serious than she had ever seen him under his make-up. “The Capitol needs a familiar face on their screens right now and that’s me. I am not expandable. How did _you_ end up like this? And do not tell me you are part of this rebellion, I do not believe it. You are too smart for that.”

“Not smart enough to stay out of troubles.” she mumbled. “Not smart enough to know I was being played.”

“Haymitch.” Caesar guessed. Not a hard guess, though. Everyone knew. Or suspected.

“He left me behind…” she whispered. “And now they call me _Abernathy’s_ _bitch_. They tell me he doesn’t care but they hope he does anyway. I am _insurance_. But unlike you and Annie, _I_ am expandable.”

Caesar pursed his lips. “Do you know anything? Anything _at all_? Has Haymitch told you something? The tiniest thing could make it easier for you…”

She immediately became suspicious.

Truth be told, she should have been suspicious the moment the Peacekeepers had wandered away.

There was a touch of regret in her friend’s gaze but his face gave nothing away.

She wanted to laugh.

And maybe cry.

“He told me repeatedly I did not mean anything to him.” she spat. “So, I suppose you can _report_ to President Snow he might as well kill me now because I guarantee Haymitch does not care one bit whether I am alive or dead. He certainly _won’t_ give up anyone in his rebellion or storm the Capitol just for me. I am nothing to him, Caesar. _Nothing_.”

Caesar tried to protest, to deny… She refused to say another word.

She took a leaf out of Annie’s book and lost herself in her own little fantasy world where Haymitch held her and told her he would always keep her safe and where she still believed that to be true.

What else was there to do? 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this one... Let me know!


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